ITV 50 Greatest Shows (2005) (TV)

Directors:

John Piper
Chris Power

Release Date:

10 September 2005 (UK)

Plot:

Plot Keywords:

Non Fiction

Cast

Cat Deeley	...	Herself - Presenter
Phillip Schofield	...	Himself - Presenter
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Bruce Alexander	...	Himself
Jean Alexander	...	Herself
Elkan Allan	...	Himself
Susie Amy	...	Herself
Peter Andre	...	Himself
Anthony Andrews	...	Himself
Michael Apted	...	Himself
Michael Aspel	...	Himself
Mark Austin	...	Himself
George Baker	...	Himself
Richard Bates	...	Himself
Tony Blackburn	...	Himself
Cilla Black	...	Herself
Honor Blackman	...	Herself
Roy Bottomley	...	Himself
Melvyn Bragg	...	Himself (as Lord Melvyn Bragg)
Caroline Brett	...	Herself
Fern Britton	...	Herself
Paul Burrell	...	Himself
Todd Carty	...	Himself
Nicki Chapman	...	Herself
Eric Chappell	...	Himself
Mark Charnock	...	Himself
Ted Childs	...	Himself
Irene Cockroft	...	Herself
George Cole	...	Himself
Simon Cowell	...	Himself
Russell T. Davies	...	Himself
Angus Deayton	...	Himself - Presenter: Sports Section
Les Dennis	...	Himself
Declan Donnelly	...	Himself (as Dec)
Mark Durden-Smith	...	Himself
Christopher Eccleston	...	Himself
Peter Fluck	...	Himself
Derek Fowlds	...	Himself
Neil Fox	...	Himself
Philip Franks	...	Himself
Kermit the Frog
Robin Gibb	...	Himself
Louise Gold	...	Herself
Trudie Goodwin	...	Herself
Robson Green	...	Himself
Shobna Gulati	...	Herself
Trevor Hicks	...	Himself
Paddy Joe Hill	...	Himself
Amanda Holden	...	Herself
Engelbert Humperdinck	...	Himself
John Hurt	...	Himself
Sally James	...	Herself
David Jason	...	Himself (as Sir David Jason)
Mark Jordon	...	Himself
Simon Kay	...	Himself (as Professor Simon Kay)
Lorraine Kelly	...	Herself
Matthew Kelly	...	Himself
Martin Kemp	...	Himself
Patsy Kensit	...	Herself
Judith Keppel	...	Herself
Verity Lambert	...	Herself
Claire Lewis	...	Herself
David Liddiment	...	Himself
Sally Lindsay	...	Herself
Gabby Logan	...	Herself
Gary Lucy	...	Himself
Patrick Macnee	...	Himself
Art Malik	...	Himself
David Mallet	...	Himself
Jackie Malton	...	Herself
Julian Manyon	...	Himself
Paul Marquess	...	Himself
Jean Marsh	...	Herself
Jackie Mason	...	Himself
Ian McBride	...	Himself
Davina McCall	...	Herself
Trevor McDonald	...	Himself (as Sir Trevor McDonald)
Ant McPartlin	...	Himself (as Ant)
Helen Mirren	...	Herself (as Dame Helen Mirren)
Sheree Murphy	...	Herself
Al Murray	...	Himself - Presenter: Comedy Section
Denis Norden	...	Himself
Hermione Norris	...	Herself
Cyril Nri	...	Himself
Tara Palmer-Tomkinson	...	Herself
Brian Park	...	Himself
Michael Parkinson	...	Himself
Nicholas Parsons	...	Himself
Joe Pasquale	...	Himself - Presenter: Imported Shows Section
Tricia Penrose	...	Herself (as Trisha Penrose)
Raj Persaud	...	Himself (as Dr. Raj Persaud)
Arlene Phillips	...	Herself
Tim Pigott-Smith	...	Himself
Diana Quick	...	Herself
Neil Reid	...	Himself
Cliff Richard	...	Himself (as Sir Cliff Richard)
Keith Richardson	...	Himself
Fay Ripley	...	Herself
William Roache	...	Himself
Denise Robertson	...	Herself
Alan Root	...	Himself
Claudia Rosencrantz	...	Herself
Nicola Shindler	...	Herself
Paul Smith	...	Himself
Jerry Springer	...	Himself
Charles Sturridge	...	Himself
Claire Sweeney	...	Herself
Melanie Sykes	...	Herself
Chris Tarrant	...	Himself
Alex Tatham	...	Himself
Sue Tatham	...	Herself
Gillian Taylforth	...	Herself
George Jesse Turner	...	Himself
Tony Walker	...	Himself
Bradley Walsh	...	Himself
Don Warrington	...	Himself
Dennis Waterman	...	Himself
Gary Webster	...	Himself
Kevin Whately	...	Himself
Alan Whicker	...	Himself
Simon Williams	...	Himself
Holly Willoughby	...	Herself
Dale Winton	...	Himself
Glenda Wood	...	Herself
Susan Wooldridge	...	Herself
Natalka Znak	...	Herself

Runtime:

UK:180 min (including commercials)

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Granada Television

Democracy TV List Style - It Sucks

The British commercial station ITV started broadcasting in 1955 and for months we in Britain have been seeing all sorts of congratulation from the station with viewers being encouraged to vote as to what has been their favourite ITV shows over the last 50 years . The voting forms appeared in TV guides and on the official ITV website but you can only vote what was on the list that ITV had drawn up !

A fair way of finding out what has been the greatest shows ITV has produced over the last 50 years ? I don't think so . What about LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR , a sit-com that would see its producers jailed if it was made now due to its politically incorrect tone but which topped the TV audience charts in the early 1970s . What about the tough macho heroics of THE PROFESSIONALS that schoolboys of my generation loved ? There's other shows that deserved to get a mention like Nigel Kneale's 1979 QUATERMASS conclusion or his anthology series BEASTS from 1976 but none of these shows made the short list

That's what wasn't included so lets look at what was . TONIGHT WITH TREVOR McDONALD ( 45 ) , DEATH ON THE ROCK ( 40 ) are these amongst the greatest , most controversial shows that the channel has produced ? So why was DEATH OF A PRINCESS not included ? It should also be pointed out that shows like FAMILY FORTUNES ( 50 ) and CANDID CAMERA ( 44 ) were based on American shows so their inclusion must be seen as dubious . Likewise THE AVENGERS ( 17 ) which is best known for the colour Emma Peel era was financied by American money so it's debatable if it should qualify as an ITV show and since THE PRISONER ( 30 ) was produced by Lew Grade's ITC company it certainly shouldn't qualify . Perhaps the most farcical aspect is ANT AND DEC'S TAKEWAY coming in at second place . What ?! You're trying to say this is the greatest thing in the history of ITV after CORONATION STREET . Someone's having a laugh since it ended up being second in the Saturday night viewing figures opposite DOCTOR WHO which proves once and for all that these TV list shows are an insult to viewer democracy